toddler not nursing much

My toddler (16 months) is not nursing much. She did not want to start solids until just after 1, and then when she did, she basically cut WAY down on breastfeeding (I have even shrunk bra sizes). So for about 4 months now, she has severely cut back. So its not a strike or a temporary thing. She doesn't even want to nurse at night much anymore, instead just wants to snuggle with me. I basically am offering to her to nurse a few times a day but sometimes she doesn't want to even try, or she sucks and then pulls off and doesn't want to. Only about 1-2 times a day does she nurse anymore. I really do wish she would nurse more. This is totally opposite than my other 2 toddler nursing eexperiences where the children wanted to nurse more than I wanted to. I am scared that this current nursling will wean, and although I know its a two way thing, I don't want her to wean.

Has anyone experienced this? Is there anything I can do to encourage her nursing more? I sometimes even wonder if its normal, because my other children as toddlers nursed a lot and would never refuse. I would have to set limits instead.

Re: toddler not nursing much

Do you think that she has teeth coming in and the nursing bothers her? Or did she have an ear infection or something and it hurt to nurse that set it off?

You're not doing anything wrong mama, and if she does wean soon - she's doing it on her own terms. I agree that this would be an oddity for me given both of my girls - I think they were both still nursing like newborns at that age. I'm sure that it's normal. You could sit around with your shirt off to encourage her to nurse more, but I can't think of anything else that would encourage it if she doesn't want to.

Re: toddler not nursing much

Well she does have teeth coming in right now, but this (nursing less and often not wanting to) has been going on about 4 months. So I don't think its related. She's never had an ear infection or anything else at all that could have set it off. The only thing that set it off was her starting solids...which she started on her own at 12 months. She (on her own terms) eats SO much solid foods, so I guess she just doesn't have as big of a need to nurse.

I agree though that its maybe just the way she is. She has been very different than my other kids in many ways. This might just be another one of those things. I would like to nurse for a long time yet but I can't really force her to. Maybe she will get back into it more later.